Two brothers from Enfield will face a spell behind bars over an incident which saw them locked in a police stand-off on the rooftops of a residential Kilburn street.

Billy and Charlie Watson, 20 and 18 respectively, will both serve 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to charges of public nuisance, affray and two counts of criminal damage.

On March 26, the pair, who both live in Tile Kiln Lane, Enfield, were spotted acting suspiciously near to a motorbike in a car park off Kingsgate Road at about 5pm.

Their ensuing refusal to surrender to police has been slammed for "wastefully" diverting police resources and causing a "huge disturbance in the Kilburn and West Hampstead areas.

When patrolling police officers stopped to speak to them, the duo scaled garden fences and then some scaffolding in an attempt to flee - ending up on the roofs of a row of terraced houses in Kingsgate Road itself.

The men refused to come down from the rooftops, and even threw loose roof-tiles at the police - this caused damage to the surrounding homes.

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As there had been reports that the Watsons were in possession of a firearm, a stand-off ensued and the brothers did not come down from the roof until almost 1am the next morning.

During the stand-off, a number of properties in the NW6 area were evacuated to ensure the safety of local people.

Det. Con. Dean Puzey said; "The actions of both men caused a huge disturbance to the local community. A number of local residences were displaced for several hours. The incident required the attendance of many local officers, specialist police units and resources from the London Ambulance Service.

"This wastefully diverted these resources away from other incidents."

The police explained that a helicopter was even used in the operation while the brothers were on the roof.

Det. Con. Puzey added: "I hoped the prosecution will reassure the local community that those cause such wanton damage and disruption will face the consequence of their actions ."

Charlie Watson was also sentenced to a further six months in prison, to be served consecutively with his other sentence, for possession of an offensive weapon in an unrelated incident.

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